9 minutes.54 seconds
music, the daily surprise.
i returned from class and began a serious task of untangling 500 feet of rope for a teambuilding activity. on thursday, i will be setting up a labyrinth and guiding blindfolding participants through the maze... regardless, i need the rope to be knot-free for labyrinth construction. so, i began work on the mangled mess and was immediately taken back by the enormity of the challenge. i felt like sisyphus pushing that boulder for eternity. in an effort to lighten the mood, i cracked open my computer, found itunes and pressed play on a fresh new album... falling off the lavender bridge by lightspeed champion was the selection.
it's perfectly normal for me to have a full album unplayed in my music library. i download enough music that, at times i can't keep up. i usually listen to new albums in one sitting, as they were produced... track one to the end. i feel like it just makes sense. i consider a track list like i consider chapters in a book. the author creates a story with a purpose and i believe musicians do the same when developing an album.
midnight surprise is an epically long song that sat idle since the beginning of march and when the track started, i knew i was going to enjoy it. i set down the entanglement, maneuvered my trackpad and dragged the song into my playlist. since september, i've been compiling my favorite music into this playlist and i've compiled hundreds of songs worth listening... hip hop, folk, indie rock, soul, etc. it streamlines all of the effort of finding a good song and makes the listening experience more fun. it also makes sharing my favorite music with friends much more efficient.
i tend to share a lot of music with friends all over the world. it started by sending youtube links of songs or artists, then it developed into making mix cds, and now it's become easier than ever to share a set of songs using a program called dropbox (google and download it... super easy to share files with friends). whichever the method, i enjoy the process of creating a mix and sending it off for a friend to experience. it's a small effort, but i'm happy with with results.
i recently shared a conversation with a friend of mine who is a folk artist. we talked a lot about mix tapes and he recognizes the skill involved in producing a playlist of various artists and songs. as an artist, he writes and performs his music with the intention of creating a final product. the final product requires so much more than just songs... it involves album art, track names, as well as the track order. he strives for perfection and often plays with the track order before completing an album. for him, the studio album is the most intimate mix tape of them all. it's a mix tape of everything that he's responsible for creating.
as the conversation of mix tapes concludes, i can't help but leave you with some advice from high fidelity.
the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. many do's and don'ts. first of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. this is a delicate thing.
the making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. it takes ages, longer than it might seem. you gotta kick it off with a killer to grab attention. then you gotta take it up a notch, but you don't want to blow your wad. so then you gotta cool it off a notch. there are a lot of rules. anyways, i've started to a make a tape... in my head... for laura. full of stuff she'd like. full of stuff that'd make her happy. for the first time i can sorta see how that's done.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
midnight surprise.lightspeed champion
i've heard a number of songs that surpass the five minute mark, but 9 minutes and 54 seconds is on the cusp of free bird. you don't see musicians making many songs of this length because i think it's hard to produce a track that keeps the audience satisfied. to lightspeed champion's credit, this track is phenomenal. it holds an excellent melody and it surprises the listener with creative transitions and a keen sense of pace. midnight surprise makes me want to become a musician and try my hand at producing a song of this length.
the rest of the album is peppered with similar success, so be sure to check it out.
enjoy.
music, the daily surprise.
i returned from class and began a serious task of untangling 500 feet of rope for a teambuilding activity. on thursday, i will be setting up a labyrinth and guiding blindfolding participants through the maze... regardless, i need the rope to be knot-free for labyrinth construction. so, i began work on the mangled mess and was immediately taken back by the enormity of the challenge. i felt like sisyphus pushing that boulder for eternity. in an effort to lighten the mood, i cracked open my computer, found itunes and pressed play on a fresh new album... falling off the lavender bridge by lightspeed champion was the selection.
it's perfectly normal for me to have a full album unplayed in my music library. i download enough music that, at times i can't keep up. i usually listen to new albums in one sitting, as they were produced... track one to the end. i feel like it just makes sense. i consider a track list like i consider chapters in a book. the author creates a story with a purpose and i believe musicians do the same when developing an album.
midnight surprise is an epically long song that sat idle since the beginning of march and when the track started, i knew i was going to enjoy it. i set down the entanglement, maneuvered my trackpad and dragged the song into my playlist. since september, i've been compiling my favorite music into this playlist and i've compiled hundreds of songs worth listening... hip hop, folk, indie rock, soul, etc. it streamlines all of the effort of finding a good song and makes the listening experience more fun. it also makes sharing my favorite music with friends much more efficient.
i tend to share a lot of music with friends all over the world. it started by sending youtube links of songs or artists, then it developed into making mix cds, and now it's become easier than ever to share a set of songs using a program called dropbox (google and download it... super easy to share files with friends). whichever the method, i enjoy the process of creating a mix and sending it off for a friend to experience. it's a small effort, but i'm happy with with results.
i recently shared a conversation with a friend of mine who is a folk artist. we talked a lot about mix tapes and he recognizes the skill involved in producing a playlist of various artists and songs. as an artist, he writes and performs his music with the intention of creating a final product. the final product requires so much more than just songs... it involves album art, track names, as well as the track order. he strives for perfection and often plays with the track order before completing an album. for him, the studio album is the most intimate mix tape of them all. it's a mix tape of everything that he's responsible for creating.
as the conversation of mix tapes concludes, i can't help but leave you with some advice from high fidelity.
the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. many do's and don'ts. first of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. this is a delicate thing.
the making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. it takes ages, longer than it might seem. you gotta kick it off with a killer to grab attention. then you gotta take it up a notch, but you don't want to blow your wad. so then you gotta cool it off a notch. there are a lot of rules. anyways, i've started to a make a tape... in my head... for laura. full of stuff she'd like. full of stuff that'd make her happy. for the first time i can sorta see how that's done.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
midnight surprise.lightspeed champion
i've heard a number of songs that surpass the five minute mark, but 9 minutes and 54 seconds is on the cusp of free bird. you don't see musicians making many songs of this length because i think it's hard to produce a track that keeps the audience satisfied. to lightspeed champion's credit, this track is phenomenal. it holds an excellent melody and it surprises the listener with creative transitions and a keen sense of pace. midnight surprise makes me want to become a musician and try my hand at producing a song of this length.
the rest of the album is peppered with similar success, so be sure to check it out.
enjoy.
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